An electrical protection element such as a circuit breaker or a fuse is typically used to protect a circuit, a device, or a system from being damaged due to an abnormal condition such as an over-voltage condition or an over-current condition. The characteristics of the electrical protection element are defined in large part by the nature of the application where the electrical protection element is used. Thus, a small fuse may be adequate to protect an electronic circuit board while a heavy-duty circuit breaker may be required to protect a transformer in an electric utility facility. Furthermore, the fuse used in the electronic circuit board may be selected without any undue attention being paid to a water-proofing aspect of the fuse. On the other hand, the heavy-duty circuit breaker may require specific attention to be paid to environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, and moisture, because the transformer may be exposed to natural elements such as the sun, rain, and snow. Consequently, in such applications, the electrical protection element may be placed inside a protective housing such as a utility hut or a water-proof enclosure.
In some cases, an electrical protection element may be housed inside a water-proof enclosure that is installed inside an underground structure. While it is expected that water would not normally flow into the underground structure, in some situations such as during heavy rainfall, water may enter the underground structure. The water-proof enclosure must therefore be constructed to prevent this water from coming in contact with the electrical protection element.
In some other cases, an electrical protection element may be housed inside a water-proof enclosure that is submerged under water, such as a body of water. Here again, the water-proof enclosure must be constructed to prevent water from coming in contact with the electrical protection element.
The water-proof enclosure must however, allow a person such as a technician, to open the water-proof enclosure in order to gain access to the electrical protection element for various reasons, such as to replace parts or to make a visual inspection of the electrical protection element. Consequently, such conflicting requirements should be taken into consideration when designing a water-proof enclosure. Some conventional solutions fail to satisfy at least some of these conflicting requirements, thereby exposing the electrical protection element to potential damage and/or making it difficult for a technician to access the electrical protection element.